Bracas

Bracas is a small commune situated in Buzău County in the Historical region of Muntenia, Romania. The commune comprises two villages, Bracas and Dealu Castrului, and lies in the sub-Carpathian foothills at an elevation of roughly 300 meters. It covers an area of about 20 square kilometres and is surrounded by mixed forest and agricultural land, giving it a typical rural Romanian landscape.

The first written record of Bracas dates back to the 15th century, where it appears in a tax ledger of the Wallachian principality. Over the centuries the village remained a modest agrarian settlement, with its inhabitants engaged primarily in crop cultivation and animal husbandry. The 19th‑century population census recorded a population of approximately 1,200 residents, mostly Romanian, with a small presence of Roma people.

In the early 20th century Bracas experienced modest industrial growth with the establishment of a small woodworking workshop that exploited the surrounding forests. After World War II, the commune was integrated into the collective farming system promoted by the socialist regime, resulting in the consolidation of surrounding farmlands into a state farm. Since the Romanian Revolution of 1989, agrarian reforms have led to the privatization of many lands, and today Bracas’s economy is dominated by mixed farming and small-scale forestry.

The commune has a number of cultural and historical sites. The Saint Nicholas Orthodox Church, built in 1874, remains the centre of local religious life and features a 19th‑century iconostasis. The 19th‑century schoolhouse in Dealu Castrului has been restored as a local history museum, housing artefacts that illustrate rural life in the 1800s. Nearby forested hills also contain the remnants of a once‑dense medieval forest, providing a glimpse into the ecological history of the area.

Bracas is accessible via County Road 53, which connects it to the regional capital Buzău and neighbouring communes. A local bus service links the commune with the city of Ploiești, facilitating economic ties and access to healthcare and education services. The community's small size and close‑knit population maintain a traditional rural character, while gradual infrastructural improvements continue to integrate Bracas into the wider socioeconomic network of Buzău County.